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Ismar David was a prolific calligrapher, type designer, illustrator, architect and educator. From the 1930s until the 1990s, he lived and worked in Berlin, Jerusalem and New York and created a manifold of exquisite designs. His most important work is considered to be the David Hebrew Typeface family. It was the first of its kind when it was issued in 1954, and up until today it is the pinnacle of Hebrew type design. What are the challenges entailed in designing a Hebrew typeface family? How did David tackle these obstacles? Why is this work paramount and what has become of it over the years? This talk is based on Shani Avni’s research for her MA thesis at the University of Reading. In it she will shed some light on David’s fascinating design process and ground-breaking results.

Shani Avni is an independent designer and researcher. Fascinated with letters and the stories they tell, she collaborates with designers and educators in order to expose more practitioners to this subject through workshops and lectures. For her Typeface Design MA thesis from the University of Reading, UK, she researched Ismar David​'s type design​ and continues to do so. Shani has been chosen for the 2017 Cary Collection Summer Research Fellowship at the Rochester Institute of Technology, US, where the work of David is archived. She continues in an effort to make additional historical information available as both an academic and a practical source of reference.